Stuffed toy
teddy bear from 1903]] A stuffed toy is a toy with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, stuffed animals, plushies, or stuffies. In Britain and Australia, they may be called soft toys or cuddly toys. Textiles commonly used for the outer fabric include plain cloth, as well as pile textiles like plush or terrycloth, or even socks. Common stuffing materials include synthetic fiber, batting, cotton, straw, wood wool, plastic pellets, and beans. The toy originates from Germany in the late 19th century and has been marked by fads in popular culture that sometimes affected collectors and the value of the toys. Stuffed toys are made in many different forms, but most often resemble real animals (sometimes with exaggerated proportions or features), legendary creatures, cartoon characters, or inanimate objects. They can be used as comfort objects; for display or collecting; or given as gifts, such as for graduation, illness, condolences, Valentine's Day, Christmas, or birthdays. They are commonly gifted to children, but can be given to anybody. History s, part of US and Canadian culture]] The first commercial concern to create stuffed toys was the German Steiff company in 1880. Steiff used newly developed technology for manufacturing upholstery to make their stuffed toys. In 1892, the Ithaca Kitty became one of the first mass-produced stuffed animal toys in the United States. In 1903 Richard Steiff designed a soft stuffed bear that differed from earlier traditional rag dolls, because it was made of plush furlike fabric. At the same time in the US, Morris Michtom created the first teddy bear after being inspired by a drawing of President "Teddy" Roosevelt with a bear cub. In 1903, the character Peter Rabbit from English author Beatrix Potter was the first stuffed toy to be patented. Types ]] Handcrafted Amigurumi is a Japanese type of handcrafted knitted or crocheted stuffed toys. Amigurumi are typically made to look cute with oversized heads and undersized extremities. Sock monkeys are a type of handmade stuffed monkey made out of socks, which first appeared in the US during the Great Depression. Brands Brands of stuffed toys include Pillow Pets, whose toys can be folded from a pillow into a stuffed animal; Tickle Me Elmo, a laughing and shaking plush toy based on the character Elmo from the Sesame Street television show, released in 1996;"Just Tickled" . People, January 13, 1997. Furby, a robotic talking plush toy with its own language, released in 1998; and Zhu Zhu Pets, a line of robotic plush hamsters released in 2009. Some brands of stuffed toys, such as Beanie Babies and Cute Plushies, used marketing strategies to encourage the collection of a series of stuffed toys. Virtual brands Webkinz stuffed animals were created by Ganz in 2005. Each Webkinz toy comes with a unique "Secret Code" that gives access to the Webkinz World website and a virtual version of the toy for online play. Disney's Club Penguin and Build-A-Bearville from Build-A-Bear Workshop are other online worlds with content that can be unlocked from codes found on associated stuffed toys. In 2013, Disney launched its first collection of Disney Tsum Tsum stuffed toys based on characters from different Disney properties, inspired by the popular app of the same name. See also *List of stuffed toy manufacturers References Category:1880 introductions Category:1880s toys Category:Stuffed toys